Matt Cassel can void his contract this week

Posted by Josh Alper on February 3, 2014, 3:21 PM EST

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With the Super Bowl done, the curtain has officially fallen on the 2013 season and the 2014 offseason is underway for all 32 teams.

One of the first decisions of the offseason will come in Minnesota this week. Ben Goessling of ESPN.com points out that quarterback Matt Cassel has until Friday to decide whether or not to void his contract with the Vikings for the 2014 season. If Cassel does void it, he will become a free agent. If not, the Vikings will have until the seventh day of the new league year in March to either pay Cassel a $500,000 roster bonus or let him go.

Cassel is set to make $3.7 million in total salary next season, which is the same he made in 2013 to back up Christian Ponder. Cassel wound up doing more than that as the quarterbacks shuffled through three different starters, however, and could be in position to start for at least part of next season as well if the Vikings draft a quarterback.

He could have the same opportunity somewhere else and there’s a possibility he could find an even better chance to start, although it might not come with the same salary that he stands to make with the Vikings in 2014. Cassell has a few days to weigh those considerations before letting the Vikings know if they have to do the same.

That picture is definitive proof that the helmets do not match the jerseys. Seriously Nike, was it too much to ask to put someone that isn’t color blind on the design team?

purpleguy says:Feb 3, 2014 4:26 PM

While Cassel appears to be in the driver’s seat here, it’s hard to see another scenario where he’d get than amount of money combined with the likelihood he’d be the presumptive starter on opening day. Then again, maybe he doesn’t want to ride the rebuilding train another year.

uwsptke says:Feb 3, 2014 4:29 PM

There’s probably 52 other guys on that team that wish they could void their contracts too.

I’m guessing the two sides will negotiate a new contract that adds a year and lowers the cap hit, probably giving Cassel the option of opting out again. Cassel will start next year and then step aside for Jimmy Football in 2015.

All you Vikings fans who still wanted the Vikes to win despite not even coming close to making the playoffs – this is the time of the year when those last couple wins at the end are biting us in the a__!

He gets to air it out in a norv turner offense to cordarrelle, jennings and rudolph while handing off to peterson and make some easy money till the rookie is ready… or go to cleveland, hmmm? See ya in Mankato, Matt.

The Vikings have never won anything of significance in their entire existence.

That’s really all I have to say.

Enjoy the offseason, nerds.

stellarperformance says:Feb 4, 2014 12:33 AM

Cassel will stick around and will be the starter…..going into the season. The Vikings cannot afford another quarterback fiasco. It would be a PR nightmare. This all started with Favre. Viking fans might cherish his “almost” season, but the teams single-minded focus on him screwed up their QB position for (at least) six years. They are still paying the price for putting all their eggs in that basket.

bobby2478 says:Feb 4, 2014 10:53 AM

Cassel played well enough last year to be almost a lock to be the starting QB for the Vikes next year.

They have enough holes on their squad they shouldn’t waste their first rounder on a QB, especially considering they don’t have the scouting staff to spot a franchise QB (apparent with the Ponder pick), nor do they have the QB guru coach to develop one.

Russel Wilson has been good for SEA, but even he wouldn’t be this good if his defense sucked as bad as the Vikes D the past few years, and they relied on their Offense every week to bail them out. They need to shore up their D so that whoever the QB is they don’t need to try and win games by them self.

They will draft a QB, but if they were smart they’d have Cassel play out this last year and let the rookie QB learn for a year under him before starting 2015. Propbably won’t happen since no one does that anymore.

Essentially, the Vikings have 3 back up QB’s on their roster. Now the question is, which one should they keep as strictly a back up QB? I’d say Cassel because he is the best of the three and has no illusions that he is a starting qb in the NFL.

Now if we can just get the Viking fan base to give up their collective illusion that the team will compete for anything other than the basement of the NFC North.

nfldoc says:Feb 5, 2014 7:09 AM

I don’t really care what Cassel decides. The Vikings only have backup QBs at best right now. Go get a QB! Somehow, some way, get a quarterback before I die…please!